Impact of 2015 Unofficial Economic Blockade on Women:

The two month long 2015 Nepal blockade, which began on 23 September,
2015 was an economic and humanitarian crisis which has severely affected
Nepal and its economy. The unofficial blockade imposed by the ethnic
Madhesi Political Parties in the south of the country who protested against
the government and the new constitution. The protesters have set up their
own blockade at the main entry points where trucks carrying fuel, medicine
and other vital supplies, have been barred from entering Nepal. The main
entry point Birgunj, which lies next to the Indian border town of Raxaul,
blocked during the blockade,. About 70 percent of imports from India flow
through this border point and many travel to India through the border to buy
fuel and other supplies.

Nepal relies heavily on imports, especially food, medicines and fuel, from
India, which is its largest trade partner. The Nepali government believes that
the Madhesi Political Parties were being supported by their Indian
counterparts to block essential fuel and supplies from getting into the
country. The Indian government denies these allegations.

The unofficial economic blockade imposed on Nepal dented any remaining

hope for an economic recovery. Although this was not the first blockade in
Nepal, its effect was severe due to the increased foreign dependency for
essential goods (especially on India, on whom Nepal relied for 93.9% of
exports and 79.4 % of imports). As a landlocked nation, Nepal imports all of
its petroleum supplies, cooking gas, medicines and other supplies from India.

All of daily life affected for almost everyone due to the blockade. But, the
fuel crisis in Nepal added more load to a Nepali women, both physically and
mentally. Due to crisis of cooking fuel, they had to adopt other ways to cook
food. Some people who afford, bought microwave, rice cooker and induction
to aid in daily cooking. But due to load-shedding, even having electrical
appliances, women had to seek for different ways to cook food. So even in
urban areas, women started cooking with firewood which increased indoor air
pollution. When the use of indoor firewood increased, there was high risk of
indoor air pollution, which negatively affected womens health who spend a
quality of time in smoke during cooking.

During times of crisis, women were most at risk. Women who were in charge
of many duties including field work, child care, collecting water, other
household chores were bound to spend more time looking for firewood and
standing in long lines for cooking gas and cooking fuel (Kerosene) during the
blockade. The fuel crisis added more responsibilities to a Nepali woman.

Also, gender based violence were increased because of the many instabilities
and vulnerabilities, particularly for poor women. As prices increases and
incomes stay stagnant or decline, frustrations arose in families, causing
violence to escalate.

In the April earthquake in the same year, about 600,000 houses damaged
during. The blockade badly affected supplies of essential supplies, including
construction materials and raw materials needed to run local industries. So,
thousands of families were bound to live in in temporary shelters, ones that
did not protect from the cold or other weather changes. Due to lack of
permanent shelters, women also had to stay in the temporary shelters which
was not safe for them. They had to face some form (physical, emotional,
verbal) of abuse. In a patriarchal society like Nepal, women are at more risk
because of the cultural norms and acceptance of violence.

In the earthquake affected area, even pregnant women had to stay in

temporary shelter which were not safe for them. During the blockade, there
was shortage of medicines and vaccines, essential for pregnant women. Due
to shortage of medicines and vaccines, women suffered a lot during
pregnancy and could not get essential vaccination.